A-pillars (also called roof side rails; pillars positioned obliquely forward of a driver and at laterally opposite ends of the vehicle to support a front window) need to offer both a static strength characteristic (for example, flexural rigidity) and a crash resistance characteristic exhibited at the time of a collision of the vehicle. For recent hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and the like for which efforts have been made to improve the safety of the vehicle and to reduce the weight thereof, a fiber reinforced resin member, which has an appropriate rigidity and a light weight, is suitable as the A-pillars.
An example of the fiber reinforced resin member is a carbon fiber reinforced plastic member (CFRP). The fiber reinforced resin member is formed by using fiber yarns with a predetermined tensile strength and the like as a longitudinal yarn extending in a longitudinal direction of the member and a diagonal yarn with a predetermined inclination to the longitudinal direction, to braid both the longitudinal yarn and the diagonal yarn to form a multiple winding layer structure, then impregnating the multiple winding layer structure with resin, and hardening the resin. In the fiber reinforced resin member, the longitudinal yarn contributes to the flexural rigidity. The winding layer structure including the winding layers with the different orientations contributes to the crash resistance characteristic.
The above-described roof side rails are shaped along the front side of the vehicle so as to extend to a roof thereof, that is, shaped such that a straight portion and a bent portion are continuous with each other. The longitudinal yarn and the diagonal yarn are wound along this shape.
Patent Document 1 describes a method for manufacturing a fiber fabric forming the above-described fiber reinforced resin member. Specifically, a manufacturing apparatus is used which has two braiders in each of which an axial (longitudinal) yarn supply section and a braider yarn supply section are installed. Both an axial (longitudinal) yarn and a braider yarn are wound around the outer periphery of a linear mandrel by carrying out a control method of reciprocating the linear mandrel through the braiders and stopping driving of one of the braiders while the other braider is being driven.    Patent Document 1: JP Patent No. 3215308